Parking brakes which are used to permanently hold a vehicle at a standstill by generating a clamping force are known from the related art. Parking brakes may include an electric brake motor which is used to generate a clamping force directly on the brake piston of the hydraulic vehicle brake. The electric brake motor is dimensioned in such a way that a clamping force may be generated which reliably holds the vehicle up to a defined gradient. In addition to the electromotive clamping force, a clamping force may also be generated via the hydraulic vehicle brake, for example, for gradients which exceed a certain degree.
The precondition for a parking brake to permanently function properly without the risk of component damage is that the hydraulic wheel brakes are not thermally overloaded, e.g., due to intense operation of the vehicle brake during a preceding braking operation. If the parking brake is engaged during fading or boiling of the brake fluid, the brake pads, which are highly stressed thermally, are compressed even more, possibly resulting in permanent damage. Furthermore, there is the risk of the brake pads sticking to the brake disk which may result in the brake pads being destroyed during the subsequent driving off of the vehicle. If a hot brake disk is highly stressed mechanically, it may be damaged in a locally limited manner or entirely.